I attended San Jose State University as a working single mother of two toddlers. We kept going through hard work, lots of prayer and a variety of scholarships and grants. I received my first art scholarship when I was in the sixth grade. It was for a series of drawing classes. Pretty neat. That really gave me something to think about. To make a long story short we graduated SJSU with honors and a BA in Art Education. That was in 1991.
Many pieces that I've sold were sold through the ICA, San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art, in San Jose, California. I stumbled onto Thomas Kinkade in 1994. He was looking for "highlighters". This was my introduction to Thom's work. I had the good fortune to work with a number of companies that make stretched canvas. Masterpiece in San Francisco, California, is without a doubt the best. Masterpiece makes my canvases.
So now my life started slowing down and getting focused. I finally started painting my own work. My art work is where I play. No rules. No deadlines. Very often I do not know what I'm going to do when I start a piece. I'll start with the thought of perhaps experimenting with a number of blue hues to see how they interact together. I might pick up a new color and start a new piece to see what I can do with it. Colors are fascinating. Colors, lines and shapes. Now if I'm doing a life study what I see is all important. My ability to translate color is superb.
And then there is philosophy. So many things we all ponder.
Looking for joy and for peace is like looking for the Holy Grail. Following myths and following lore. Following any grain of hope, any bit of information that might help. Is joy, or peace, real? Is it truth, legend, just a tease? Could it be something of that "fourth dimension" Picasso searched for? Mazlow with his theory of Self-Actualization, "I AM" lovely name of God or something I call myself, the "zone" of an athlete, Paradise, the "Big Picture" as my mother would say, servitude, the love of Jesus Christ? Should the Id be free to roam as it pleases? Wherein lies freedom? Are these questions all part of the same riddle?
Perhaps it's the journey to freedom that should intrigue me. What then could possible be the goal if the journey is what we're living for and dreaming of? Could it simply be gratitude? Here and now may be as good as it gets. What do we see, hear, smell and physically feel this instant? I know I'm having fun.
Visual art is my map to this Holy Grail quest. It's driven me all of my life as the prime motivator for my education. Painting is one of the rare times I allow my self very few expectations beyond playing. II try to paint what I understand, but then a curious phenomenon occurs and I find myself trying to understand what I paint.
